Weak WiFi signal - Amazon Firestick/iPlayer almost unusable.

[pidgeonpost]

When we moved into this house we had a number of broadband connectivity/reliability problems culminating in a visit from a BT or Openreach engineer. He looked at the location of our master socket (in our main living area) and pronounced it as not being an 'official' installation and that it needed relocating.

He then repositioned it in another room the other side of the hallway, and some 6 or 7 metres further away from our Wi-Fi-connected laptop and PC, with two brick walls and doors between them.

These machines struggled to the extent that I gave up relying on the Wi-Fi signal and connected the PC via Cisco Netplugs. Problem not solved, but at least it was a work-around.

Usually we have 4 x Wi-Fi devices online at any time - 2 x Android phones, a wireless printer, and now an Amazon Firestick which we use in conjunction with our Smart TV. But the TV and Firestick are even further away from the HomeHub 6, with a chimney breast in the way too! This results in iPlayer and a few other services being virtually unusable at times unless you enjoy watching the 'Loading...' symbol until you get the 'Something went wrong...' message.

BT advertising keeps telling us that we should have Wi-Fi every room, but even after the latest hub upgrade it's just not reliable in our case. If the hub had stayed where it was originally we wouldn't have this problem, so I'm pretty fed up! I guess I could buy a booster, but I'm reluctant to pay for yet another device when I've already shelled out on Netplugs in an effort to make our various devices work reliably. Any suggestions please?   🐵

[Keith_Beddoe]

@pidgeonpost 

Are you actually signed up to the Complete Wifi Solution, with the extra disc(s)?

https://home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/internet/broadband/what-is-complete-wifi-bt-broadband-bt-plus-11364...

https://www.bt.com/broadband/complete-wifi

[albertj]

Hey @pidgeonpost 

Thanks for posting.

You have probably seen advertising for the Complete Wi-Fi service, which does guarantee a signal in every room.

If you have the homeplugs, you can use a wireless access point. These may be cheaper than a wireless booster, and in most cases work better; a TP-Link TL-WA801ND should be fine. Or do you have an old Home Hub?

Alternatively, you could buy a Ethernet Adapter for the Fire TV.

Thanks

[pidgeonpost]

Thanks for this Keith.  This is the first I've heard of the Complete Wi-Fi Solution, so I'll have to look into it and see what it's likely to cost.  😊

[Keith_Beddoe]

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@pidgeonpost wrote:

Thanks for this Keith.  This is the first I've heard of the Complete Wi-Fi Solution, so I'll have to look into it and see what it's likely to cost.  😊

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You may find this helpful https://community.bt.com/t5/Home-setup-Wi-Fi-network/Introducing-Complete-Wi-Fi-from-BT/m-p/1901302#...

[pidgeonpost]

Thanks for your reply. As mentioned to Keith (above) I've not heard of the Complete Wi-Fi solution so will have a look at that and the wireless access point and booster options. The BT hub is a HomeHub 6 so quite recent.

You mention an Ethernet Adapter for the Fire TV - do you mean for the Firestick? If so I'll have to look into that too as I've not heard of it.

[Keith_Beddoe]

I do not know anything about the Fire TV box, It was @albertj  who mentioned it.

[albertj]

Hello,

Yes, it’s an official adapter available on Amazon, can’t link to it due to forum rules.

You plug the ethernet in and the power and then it’s micro usb out again.

I use it and it works great!

Any questions please post back

Thanks

[pidgeonpost]

Just checked availability - not available at my address. Will look at other options, but thanks anyway. 🐵

[Devon_Dave]

What is not available at your address?